Posts By danmucci

Dan Mucci is Founder and Owner of NEXT STEP Professional Coaching & Consulting, LLC and former Lead Pastor & President of Abundant Life Church, Inc.; a role he held for 29 years. His driving passion is to inspire people to be more successful in life and business by being a servant leader. He has created, served and lead his organization's vision board, along with various community boards during his career. He has an extensive background in collaborative leadership and community partnership with state and local government, educational institutions, corporations, and nonprofits.

Most of us understand that for any of us to move forward, to grow and succeed in our lives, work and families, we need to have a positive attitude and self talk. While many of us wrestle internally in our heads sometimes to keep coaching ourselves in the right direction, there are clearly some basic principles that can help us overcome any negative thoughts that could hinder our progress and development

Here are six positive principles that ironically are stated with the first word, “don’t.” My hope is to remind you, as I remind myself, that allowing ourselves to dwell on negative thinking only hinders us from moving forward, and slows us down in the growth that matures our outlook on our lives and others.

As you review these thoughts, see if they don’t renew your mind in areas you perhaps may be wrestling with as we all do at times.

DON’T WORRY WHEN YOU’RE DOING YOUR BEST. We all know that eighty-five percent of what we worry about never happens yet we still at times find worry dominating our thoughts. When we are doing our best to live our life, lead our families and accomplish the work of our jobs or careers, it’s important that we learn to find contentment in that. In truth, we can’t do better than our best, if we are giving our best. So, let’s try to relax more and be thankful that we have the current capacity to give our lives and goals the best that we have to offer. Learning to be content with where we are at the moment is a key to preparing us to grow and achieve more in the new opportunities that will come our way if we simply do our best as much as possible, in everything we do.

DON’T HURRY WHEN SUCCESS DEPENDS ON ACCURACY. Hurry is another enemy of our contentment and mental health. Hurry creates undue stress in our lives because we are trying to beat the clock rather than do our best. When we are not focused on doing our best, we lose our capacity to focus on doing things well. If we take ownership and satisfaction of our work being done with accuracy, that attitude can counterbalance the need for speed. There is nothing more embarrassing to try to meet someone’s expectations or timelines, than for them to find mistakes, and for us to have to take more time to fix the mistakes than it would have taken to do it accurately the first time. Let’s keep reminding ourselves, hurry is the surest way to failure of accuracy. Giving our best requires doing it right the first time.

DON’T FORM CONCLUSIONS UNTIL YOU HAVE ALL THE FACTS. This is surely one of the worst things we can do that will mar our character quicker than most other actions. Jumping to conclusions is not only harmful to us, more than that it is very damaging to other people and any hope of having a trusting relationship with them. While jumping to conclusions is not only damaging to relationships, it is also can be destructive in our work. If we make hasty decisions without all the information, it contributes to a reputation for being unreliable. Instead, conduct all the research we have available and invest the time necessary to review all the data, this always brings about a more informed and dependable outcome to our conclusions.

DON’T BELIEVE A THING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT TRYING IT.The only things that are truly impossible are those things that we fail to try. Passion goes a long way in generating enthusiasm and even resources to accomplish ideas, dreams or tasks we may deem impossible. Running our mouths is a little like running the engine of a vehicle parked at a curb without ever shifting it into drive if we aren’t taking steps to engage our creative ideas, pursue our dreams to accomplish something worthwhile or finish the tasks we would love to complete for our own satisfaction. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “there is no such thing as try, only do.” If we are determined and willing to set our eyes on a goal until we reach the finish line, more often than not we can do things we once thought impossible.

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME ON TRIVIAL MATTERS. One of the biggest hindrances to us accomplishing our goals, improving our relationships and getting our work done in a timely manner can simply be we spend too much time on the trivial parts of what we hope to accomplish. “The definition of trivial: of little value or importance. – “huge fines were imposed for trivial offenses” synonyms; unimportant, banal, trite, commonplace, insignificant, inconsequential, minor, or no account, of no consequence, or of no importance.” Seriously now, do we want trivial matters to interfere with our progress? If not, then we should ask ourselves regularly, especially if we find ourselves spending an inordinate amount of time on things, “am I focusing on things that are trivial?” So, let’s remember to stay focused on the things that really matter like accomplishing our goals, improving our relationships, and getting our work done accurately and in a timely manner.

DON’T THINK THAT GOOD INTENTIONS ARE A GOOD EXCUSE FOR DOING NOTHING. The business manager of the college I attended used to say to students who made excuses for not following through on their work, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Wow! That is a little blunt, and not such a kind thought to share. However, I believe his point is well taken. You’re not going to get where you want to go with just good intentions. So “do” what you agreed to do, are expected to do, and will be remembered for doing. If you “don’t”, then don’t expect to see results, rewards or recognition for the words of your good intentions, they are simply words that are trivial. And we both know now, what trivial means.

In summary, if you are trying to coach yourself toward growth and achievement and are struggling to stay with it to see measurable progress, you might want to consider hiring a life coach to help assist you in co-creating next steps to ensure your success. If you’re leading a company or organization hiring a consultant to help get you going may be exactly the kick start you need. If you want to increase the speed and effectiveness of the things you are aiming for in life or in your company, contact me for a free sample coaching session by phone, video chat or in person.

Life is all about seasons. In fact, the planet we live on has four main seasons doesn’t it? There are also seasons of human activity. There are relational, physical, spiritual and emotional seasons of life. The same is true in your life. You go through various seasons in order to mature and grow. Some seasons are more challenging than others, and some seasons are more rewarding than others. I want to point out to you five general facts about the seasons of life. These insights can help us navigate our seasons with a greater sense of purpose.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE SEASONS OF LIFE

1. They are beyond my control. You can’t control when they happen, how long they happen or where they happen. Most seasons begin with an irritation, an interruption or an inconvenience. When you enter a new season, your neat little schedule gets thrown out the door. We are rolling along in life, and then life as we know it, is interrupted. Whatever is going on, remember it’s only for a season.

2. The seasons of life are often confusing. Sometimes you’re in situations and you think, “Why is this happening to me? I don’t understand it.” Understanding usually follows an experience rather than precedes it. We don’t usually understand it while we’re in the situation. Looking ahead you don’t know what’s going to happen. Looking back, you know everything that has happened and it gives you perspective. So seasons can be confusing.

3. There is a purpose for every season of your life. The lonely seasons, the sad seasons, the seasons of success, the seasons of waiting, the seasons of grief and so on. Each has it’s purpose and is preparing us for the next season. While we don’t always know the purpose of the season while it is happening, the next season often brings to light how we’ve learned and grown through the previous season. Once that happens, we come to realize that there is a purpose for every season.

4. The seasons of life include both good and bad times. Life is full of contrasts. We go through mountains and we go through valleys. We go through successes and we go through failures. We have wins and we have losses in our life.

In the weather, there are four seasons. But in your life there are dozens of different seasons. One writer states: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Life is a combination of contrasting seasons. Each of these experiences can ultimately add meaning and purpose and value to your life if you let them.

5. What I sow, in one season, I will reap in another season. Every farmer knows this. You plant in the spring and you harvest in the fall. You don’t plant in the spring and immediately the next day you harvest. We want it to happen that way but it doesn’t. Because you plant a seed in one season and you always harvest in another. The way you respond right now is definitely going to affect your future. If you respond correctly in a challenging season of life and if you do the right thing, even when you don’t feel like it, it pays great dividends in the future.

“If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Life Coach Training PLUS DISC Insights certification program is a comprehensive coaching solution for growing organizations. CEO’s, Human Resource and Sales leaders alike have found the path to management’s most critical tool for long-term success in coaching with the DISC Personality System! You’ll be mentored by PeopleKeys Master Life Coach Dan Mucci.

You will be trained in Life Coach Certification plus the DISC Insights Certification in just 6 months, no travel or lodging expenses, and you will enroll paying clients in your practice before you graduate. No kidding! You’ll learn four valuable skills to build and grow your own coaching business:

Life Coaching

DISC Analysis

Marketing tools

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You are within minutes of learning all you need to know to change your life — and the lives of those around you — for the better.

Contact me to register, set up a phone inquiry or email any questions I may help you with.

Once you purchase the DISC Consultation on the “Enrollment & Pricing” tab you will receive an email with instructions and key codes to complete your DISC online report which takes about 10 minutes. You will receive the DISC report results by email to download and save within 24 hours or less to review.

Then, you will be contacted to schedule the one hour consult with Dan to review and co-create next steps for implementing what you’ve learned to excel at work and home. Contact Dan on the “contact me” page for more information.

This live consultation in person or on a call will provide you with the keys to increase productivity, satisfaction and longevity in the workplace. To schedule a consultation with Life Coach Dan Mucci, use the “contact me” page or purchase the Triple Impact Report consultation under the “Enrollment & Pricing” tab and you’ll receive by e-mail the 15-20 minute assessment for you to complete. Dan will send you the report and follow-up to schedule your appointment.

Are you over 40 and have you achieved a satisfying level of achievement in your career?

Life Coaching just could be your next career calling. If you are ready for a new challenge professionally, you’ve always wanted to own your own business, and if you’re the person people “seek out” for help and support, or for a shoulder to lean on, you’re probablyalready “coaching” at a certain level. And the chances are you already know a great deal about being a good coach. Life coaching may be the perfect fit for your next career.

For many people over 40, who have achieved a satisfying level of achievement in a corporate setting, they recognize a passion within themselves to do something more to benefit of the lives of others and enjoy greater freedom in their career. Climbing the corporate ladder may not be for everyone who still has a lot of ambition to challenge himself or herself personally in a career that will make a difference in the lives of other people directly. There are many career opportunities to choose from for a second career. Life coaching happens to be one of the fastest growing career opportunities for accomplished individuals today.

One of the rewards, as well as being one of the great challenges in becoming a life coach, is that of also being a self-employed businessperson. Yes, there are some companies (very few) that hire coaches. Generally speaking, life coaching is a solo profession… and this is where you find the true opportunity.

There is no other business, home-based or otherwise, that offers the maximum amount of benefits (personal independence, professional satisfaction, financial reward) for the minimum amount of investment (time, money, effort). It frankly doesn’t get any easier than this.

Coaching is a professional service providing clients with feedback, insights, and guidance from an outside vantage point. The profession of coaching is similar to the practice of a physician, attorney, or psychologist. The major difference is that coaching is an on-going collaborative partnership built on taking action.

In this powerful alliance, clients find themselves:

Doing more than they would on their own.

Taking themselves more seriously.

Creating momentum and consistency.

Taking more effective and focused actions.

Becoming more balanced and fulfilled.

People look for life coaching when they are making a career transition, starting a new business, feeling dissatisfied, re-evaluating life choices, or simply looking for personal and professional breakthroughs.

Coaching is action-oriented. It’s also about moving forward, not dwelling on the past. It doesn’t matter how clients got where they are or who is to “blame” for how they turned out. Coaching is about where an individual is right now and where they would like to be.

With a coach as their guide, clients are able to define their dreams, recognize what’s holding them back, and move forward with great momentum and clarity of vision.

You may be saying, “I know I could be good at this and I’m convinced I can be a great coach one day. But how do I get there from where I am now?”

There’s no better way to do it except to immerse yourself in the process and gain experience. Check out the PeopleKeys Life Coach Training PLUS course here. This is a two-in-one certification course to become a certified Life Coach and a certified DISC Behavioral Consultant. In 22 weeks of a 60-90 minute tele-class you will have your new business as a Life Coach up and running with paying clients. Course begins Monday, June 17th at 7pm.

“You can offer your ideas to others as bullets or as seeds. You can shoot them or sow them. Ideas used as bullets will kill inspiration and motivation. Ideas used as seeds will take root, grow and bear fruit in the life in which they are planted. But there’s a risk; once it becomes part of those in whom it’s planted, you probably will get no credit for originating the idea. But if your willing to go without the credit…you’ll reap a rich harvest.” – Richard Halverson

“The Lord God has given me his words of wisdom so that I may know what I should say.” Isaiah 50:4 LB

Well known American novelist, Ursula K Le Guin makes this statement, “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” Some people suffer from “destination disease.” They think that arriving at a certain place in life will bring them happiness. What a shame. Because the reality is, that many times when we arrive, we discover that it wasn’t what we expected. If you become fixated on a destination, you can miss the great things that happen along the way. You miss the joy of today.

If you’re convinced that “someday” is going to be your best day, you won’t put enough into today or get enough out of it. If you’re not doing something significant with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. It’s not enough just to survive, you need a reason to live. When you choose a reason to live that will impact others beyond the length of your journey, then life will take on a new significance that is well worth investing in everyday.

The journey is greater than any destination we can arrive at on this planet. How we live, learn, grow and develop on our journey will determine how much we enjoy it. The antidote to “destination disease” is to live your life to the fullest everyday and grow a network of people who are doing the same. I hope you’ve found your reason for living, and furthermore, are enjoying the journey with a group of friends on a similar track. If not, it’s never to late to find it. Keep enjoying the seizeable moments along the way. Some of them can be life changing.

Americans have always been a forward-looking people. We want to know what’s going to happen next, next year, next decade, next century. We’re preoccupied with the future. It’s amazing how people try all kinds of different things to try to forecast the future: tea leaves, fortune cookies, astrology, palm reading. We try many different ways to get a grasp on the future. We read books, subscribe to seminars that forecast the economic predictions. We attend conferences and seminars on planning and goal setting. What is the viewpoint for a follower of Jesus toward the future?

In the book of James, he illustrates the first mistake we often make in planning the future with a typical conversation between a couple of businessmen. One guy has his MBA from the University of Jerusalem and the other is the CEO of a Tel-Aviv 500 company. They’re talking and discussing their plans. We drop into their conversation in v. 13, “Now listen you who say, Today or Tomorrow. We will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” What’s wrong with this? People make plans every day. These are just a couple of entrepreneurs, go-getters. There is detail in the business plan; they have it all planned out. When? Today or tomorrow. Where? This or that city. How long? We’ll spend a year there. What? We’ll carry on business. Why? Make money. What’s wrong with this? The Bible doesn’t condemn making a legitimate profit. The Bible talks a lot about planning too. This man has planned everything. His purpose, the place, the progress. He’s got all the bases covered. What’s wrong here?

There’s not a single mention of God in this entire business plan. He knew what he wanted, he knew how to get there, but he didn’t check it out with God first. Don’t misunderstand. The Bible talks about planning. “No man goes out and builds a house without first considering how much it’s going to cost.” And the book of Proverbs says over and over again that if I don’t plan I’m a fool. It’s wise to plan. He’s not talking about planning, he’s talking about presumption without God. It’s great to have dreams, it’s great to have goals — as long as you include God, as long as you pray about it. There’s nothing wrong with what he did — all of these things are fine. It’s what he forgot to do. He forgot to include God. His attitude was one of self-sufficiency.

You see, you can be a follower of Jesus and forget God in your daily life. I know a lot of people who love God with all their heart but when it comes to planning their business or career or their school education they are practical atheists. It’s sad to meet somebody who says, “I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe He exists.” It’s sadder to find somebody who says, “I believe He exists,” but then lives like He doesn’t exist. He doesn’t make any plans involving the Lord. He just goes off on his own as if all depends on him. You say, “I believe in God.” Does He have a say in your business? You say, “I don’t believe in mixing business and faith.” All business is God’s business if you’re a real follower of Christ. Don’t plan without God. That’s presumptuous. Planning without God is practical atheism.

If you’re serious about “Growing To The Next Level” make sure you include God in your plan.“The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands.” 2 Cor. 8:10 (Msg) Start planning your future today by considering inviting God into your plan.

One leadership expert writes, “The pursuit of my dream has taken me out of my comfort zone, elevated my thinking, given me confidence, and confirmed my sense of purpose. My pursuit of the dream and my personal growth have become so intertwined that I now ask myself, ‘Did I make the dream, or did the dream make me?'”

When your mind accepts a new idea or learns a new truth. It’s forever changed. And once stretched, it takes on a new shape and never goes back to its original form. When that happens, you experience true fulfillment.

The words of Jesus give us a clue to God’s intention for the life of every person who desires it. Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” John 10:10 (Msg) There is a dream that can transform our lives and help us to experience a life beyond our wildest dreams. Is your dream taking you out of your comfort zone, elevating your thinking, giving you confidence, and confirming your sense of purpose?

The vision some people have of their future is simply more of the same. If their life has been without advancement or significance, they assume that life will continue in the same manner. If their life has been difficult and wrought with other people inflicting pain on their lives and destroying their self-worth, they may assume that is just their lot in life and that they should expect nothing more.

The vision that other people have of their future is of a “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” Regardless, of whether their life has been up or down, valued or demeaned, or loved or unloved, they reach for a better future. They see the value and joy of overcoming their less than favorable circumstances, or they see that the blessing of a more than favorable past deserves the gratitude of pursuing the best they can be in the future. These people are not willing to settled for what may seem as an inescapable pain, or the boredom of today, but seek the best in everything that life has to offer them.

People will only buy into your vision for a better future if you are sold out to it. Convincing others of the significance of your vision for a better future can happen only if you are convinced of its significance yourself. That requires the right message, spoken by the right messenger, to the right people, at the right time, and in the right way. So, don’t be careless in your communication, or to whom you are speaking, (remember there are always more people listening than think) or to the timing and tone of your message.

There is an interesting mathematical dynamic in the Bible which states that one person can put a thousand to flight, but two people can put ten thousand others to flight. (Deuteronomy 32:30) Yes, the Bible teaches the power of synergy. To create a better future for yourself, requires the cooperation of others sharing in and supporting your vision for a better future. Whether it is overcoming the pain, loss or adversity life has dealt you, or whether it is being thankful for the blessing of a solid supportive and loving family where you were well taken care of, everyone needs authentic relationships with people who love you and believe in you.

When you get the right people involved in your vision of a better future, plus the favor of God, you’ll accomplish more than you ever dreamed possible. Achieving the goals you conceive will be overshadowed by outcomes of a greater purpose for your life than you could have ever imagined.

At the end of the day, whether you settle in life for a “more of the same” future or you “reach for the best” of what is possible in the future with God’s help, the choice is yours, for a bitter future, or a better future, for a future of continued acceptance of a predetermined fate or a future of a destiny yet to be discovered and achieved. Jesus said, “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of,” John 10:10 MSG.

It really doesn’t require invincible faith, or an off the chart IQ to recognize, each of us have been given the ability to choose our own destiny. Why not choose a better future, rather than just more of the same?